After a long nine years, Stranger Things is finally coming to an end, with a whopping total of four seasons released in a span of nine years. The first four episodes of season five were released on November 26th, and the remaining episodes will be released on December 25th and 31st. In honor of the new season, this will be a recap of the previous seasons for the upcoming ones, so you can know what happened in previous seasons and return to the small town of Hawkins, Indiana. So get comfy, grab some popcorn, and tissues, because this is going to be a long, rollercoaster ride of emotions for our main characters.
Season 1
The season starts with 4 boys named Mike, Dustin, Lucas, and Will. The boys were in Mike’s basement playing a game called Dungeons and Dragons, and that tragic night was when Will went missing after encountering a strange figure out in the road while riding on his bike back home. In search of Will, the other three boys encountered a buzzed girl out in the woods who was later nicknamed Eleven. She was also experimented on at Hawkins Lab because she has psychotic powers. Will was later pronounced dead, and in search of him, his body was found in the river, allegedly. However, Joyce, Will’s mother, believes her son is still alive out there because she’s came into contact with him through Christmas lights. Soon enough, the group of boys comes to find out that a monster has taken Will from another dimension (Upside Down) called a Demogorgon, which Eleven released during one of Hawkins Labs’ experiments. Hawkins’s chief police officer, Jim Hopper, covers a conspiracy about Hawkins Lab and later teams up with Joyce in search of Will. Ultimately, Eleven sacrifices herself to save the three boys, thereby disintegrating the Demogorgon and putting an end to his hunting. Meanwhile, Joyce and Jim went into the Upside Down to rescue Will. Honorable mention, Jonathan (Will’s brother), Nancy (Mike’s sister), and Steve (the famous babysitter) lured the Demogorgon to Byler’s house to attack it it distract it so it doesn’t go after Jim and Joyce while they are in the Upside Down. Finally, Will is safe back in the real world; however, it’s not quite over yet.
Season 2
This new season introduces us to a new main character, Max, and a side character, Bob, who later plays a tragic role. After the events of season 1, Will is finally back home; however, he occasionally gets these visions of a big shadow monster known as the Mind Flayer, which eventually possesses him and begins spreading through Hawkins using underground tunnels and Demodogs. Meanwhile, Eleven is revealed to be alive, living with Hopper, and later discovers her mother and another experiment like her. Still, she returns to help the others when the situation becomes dangerous. Demodogs overrun the Hawkins Lab due to the soldiers there that hurt the thing inside Will, and Bob sacrifices himself to save the others. After escaping, the group splits up, where Mike, Lucas, Dusten, Max, and Steve go out to distract the monsters after an epic fight between Steve and Max’s brother, Billy. Meanwhile, Nancy, Jonathan, and Joyce hurry and try to get the Mind Flayer out of Will so that 11 can use her powers to close the gate to the Upside Down, while Hopper is protecting her from the roaming Demodogs, all in an attempt to break the Mind Flayer’s control. At the end, Eleven manages to close the gate, ultimately infuriating the Mind Flayer, and the season ends with the kids at the Snow Ball, though the Mind Flayer is still watching them from the Upside Down
Season 3
Season 3 follows the kids during the summer times as a reopened Hawkins Mall, Starcourt hides a secret underground Russian base, attempting to reopen the gate to the Upside Down. Billy is later possessed by the Mind Flayer and is forced to help build a massive monster made from the bodies of Hawkins’ residents, all to put an end to Eleven since it now knows that she’s the only from capable of posing as a threat after the events of season 2. Eleven and the others discover the threat as the Mind Flayer hunts them. At the same time, Dusten, Steve Robin (new character), and Erica (Lucas’s little sister) uncover the Russian operation beneath Starcourt Mall. Hopper and Joyce try to shut down the machine powering the gate, and Hopper is seemingly killed when in a fight with one of the Russians after the machine explodes, closing the portal once again destroying the Mind Flayer’s physical form. Before that, Billy sacrifices himself to save Eleven, who has unexpectedly lost her powers. After the battle, Joyce decides it’s time to move from Hawkins and takes Eleven with her, as Hopper is pronounced dead following the events at Starcourt Mall.
Season 4
Season 4 centers on Vecna, a powerful killer from the Upside Down who targets traumatized teens and uses their minds to open a new gate across Hawkins. Eleven, now living in California, struggles with losing her powers until she’s taken to a secret Nina Project facility to regain them and uncover the truth: Vecna is actually Henry Creel (001), the first test subject whom she banished to the Upside Down years ago. In Hawkins, Nancy, Steve, Robin, Max, Dustin, and Lucas investigate the murders while Max becomes Vecna’s next target and narrowly survives thanks to music. Meanwhile, Hopper is revealed to be alive in a brutal Russian prison, and Joyce and Murray go to rescue him. However, they got captured and soon became escapees once again. The season builds to a massive final battle where the kids fight Vecna in multiple realms, where Joyce, Hopper, and Murray fight the monster in Russa that they took when they opened the gate in season 3, but despite their efforts, Vecna mortally wounds Max and successfully opens a huge rift through Hawkins. The season ends with Max in a coma, the Upside Down beginning to merge with the real world, and the group preparing for an even bigger fight.
It’s been a long year for the cast of Stranger Things. I personally can’t wait to watch the last remaining episodes. I also really enjoyed watching the first 4 episodes. I won’t spoil it and leave you guys to watch it and experience it, but I’m also sad that it’s going to be put to an end, and we won’t be getting any more new seasons, but it’s been a great 9 years of Stranger Things. I hope that after you read this article, you’ll also want to watch Stranger Things as it’s coming to an end and enjoy all the excitement, character developments, plot twists, and epic fights towards the end of the season.
